Gisele Bündchen opened up about a major hiccup in her relationship with Tom Brady in her 2018 memoir, Lessons.
When Gisele and Tom were just two months into their relationship, Tom told her some shocking news. His ex-girlfriend of two years, Bridget Moynahan, was pregnant with his child. In her just-published book, Gisele recalls the moment she heard the news.
"The very next day the news was everywhere, and I felt my world had been turned upside down. Needless to say, that wasn't an easy time".
However, she says that the challenge only brought them closer to each other than ever before. Bridget and Tom's son, Jack, arrived later that year. His birth made Gisele's "heart expand in ways I didn't know was possible."
Gisele committed to helping Tom raise Jack, and in fact, the baby boy's arrival propelled her own motherhood along. She and Tom wanted Jack to have siblings closer to his own age, so they decided to start a family sooner than originally planned.
Her tell-all is emotional, relatable, and revealing.
Gisele first met Tom on a blind date in December 2006. In her new memoir Lessons, she describes how the couple quickly bonded over their family values and the fact that their careers were both in "high gear."
But just two months into their budding romance, Tom threw a wrench into the works.
He revealed that his ex-girlfriend of two years, Bridget Moynahan, was having his baby.
Gisele was shocked by the news and had a hard time accepting it at first.
"Needless to say, that wasn't an easy time," the model wrote. "But it was a time that brought about so much growth."
Later that year, little Jack Moynahan arrived in the world. Gisele views him as her "bonus child."
"In fact, I credit Jack with accelerating Tom's and my growing up in so many ways," the retired Victoria's Secret Angel explained.
Gisele and Tom wanted Jack to have siblings closer to his own age.
"With Jack in our lives, our priorities definitely started to shift. I wanted to be there for Jack and Tom, and do whatever I could to create stability in their lives, and help them to have a close relationship," she explained. "Tom, especially, needed my support during that time, and whenever I'm in a position to be of help to anyone, especially someone I love, I will be there… We decided to start our family sooner rather than later."
"A couple of years later, we were married, I became pregnant, and soon we were busy growing our family between New England and Los Angeles," she continued.
The family even decided to be bicoastal so that they could spend more time with Jack.
Gisele and Tom now have two children together – Benjamin, 8, and Vivian, 5.
But she says making the adjustment to being married with kids wasn't easy.
"A new marriage, a new baby, a new life in New England," she wrote, "it was a big transition for me. I didn't know anyone in Boston, and living there made it harder for me to do my work, but I was in love with Tom and I wanted to make our marriage work. So what I'd worked so hard to achieve, the thing I'd done since the age of 14, had to take a backseat."
She did feel "conflicted," "depressed," and "overwhelmed" at times.
"I felt the massive new responsibility of motherhood," she wrote.
And since becoming a mother, her kids have been her priority instead of her career. She feels "lucky" to be a mom, something she's always dreamed of.
Gisele says she often turns down modeling jobs for the sake of her family.
"Either Tom has a big game, or Benny has a play at school, or maybe Jack will be with us for the weekend, or Vivi has a bad cough. For whatever reason, the scheduling doesn't always work," she wrote. "My family comes first."
And while she admits that things with Bridget — whose name she never uses — were awkward, Gisele was focused on making things easy for Jack. He's been "a huge gift and blessing" in her life, she says.
"I wanted to build the best possible relationship with Tom, Jack and our children," she said.
There's no doubt about it: Gisele took a difficult situation and handled it with care and grace.
